Composer Conversations With Daniel Vezza

I normally edit each interview to fit into one podcast, but Martin has too many great stories, including one interesting encounter he had with Luigi Nono, which he wrote about in the New York Times, and many others about studying with Ligeti. So Martin gets two episodes. In part one we talk about different political climates and the music being made in them. In part two we focus on his music and aesthetics. You can listen to more on his website www.martinbresnick.com.Martin is a composer from New York who teaches at Yale University. He has written music for films, orchestras, and chamber ensembles, and has won numerous prizes including three N.E.A. Composer Grants, a residency at the American Academy In Rome, the ASCAP Foundation’s Aaron Copland Prize for teaching, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an elected membership to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

I normally edit each interview to fit into one podcast, but Martin has too many great stories, including one interesting encounter he had with Luigi Nono, which he wrote about in the New York Times, and many others about studying with Ligeti. So Martin gets two episodes. In part one we talk about different political climates and the music being made in them. In part two, which will be released next week, we focus on his music and aesthetics. You can listen to more on his website www.martinbresnick.com.Martin is a composer from New York who teaches at Yale University. He has written music for films, orchestras, and chamber ensembles, and has won numerous prizes including three N.E.A. Composer Grants, a residency at the American Academy In Rome, the ASCAP Foundation’s Aaron Copland Prize for teaching, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an elected membership to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Simon is a Berlin based composer, performer and installation artist as well as a lecturer of composition at the Royal Academy of Music in Århus. His works include instrumental music, electronics, video, and performance within a range of settings. You can listen to more of his music at www.simonsteenandersen.dk .In our conversations we talk about his time living in Paris, what makes a piece of music durable from performance to performance, and his unique approach to choreography in instrumental music.

David is a New York based composer and the founding artistic director and drummer for the chamber ensemble Newspeak. He has a new CD out of solider songs, an opera-theatre work exploring the perceptions versus the realities of war through the eyes of a soldier. One of the tracks is featured in this interview.In our conversation we talk about when and when not to us precision while writing, how composers and performers discover each other for collaborations, and how he navigates the world of politics and music.

Eric is a New York based composer pianist, and Executive Director of Wet Ink. His music has been performed by Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin, ICE, Yarn/Wire, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble and The Knights. He is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Composition at Oberlin Conservatory. You can listen to more of his music at www.wubbelsmusic.comIn our conversation we talk about the satisfaction of performing and listening to scrutable music, the critical apparatus of New Music in the U.S., and finding a methodology when composing.

Sam is a New York based composer and improviser. He is Technical Director and electronics performer for the Wet Ink Ensemble, and has been commissioned and premiered by Mivos Quartet, Yarn/Wire, ICE, Timetable Percussion, RIOT Trio, and So Percussion. You can hear more of his music at www.sampluta.com.In our conversation we talk about his transition from computer science to electronic music, the time he spent working and studying in the UK, and the inherent aesthetic preferences of computer music programs.

Alex Mincek is a New York-based composer and performer. He is currently the saxophonist, bass clarinetist, and artistic director of the Wet Ink Ensemble, which he founded in 1998. You can check out more of his music at www.alexmincek.com or go to an upcoming concert featuring his music alongside composer Eric Wubbels on Feb 8th at the DiMenna Center in Manhattan.In our conversation we talk about why he founded Wet Ink, the continental lag for European Composers gaining attention in the U.S., and the influence they have had on his music.

Kate is a composer and vocalist based in New York and Boston. She is a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study in Cambridge MA, and is Managing Director and performer for the new music ensemble Wet Ink. You can listen to more of her music at www.katesoper.com, or go to her publisher’s page at Project Schott New York.In our conversation, which took place about a year ago, we talk about her involvement with Wet Ink, her experiences working in a scene that is mostly male, and methods she has developed when writing vocal music.

Timo is a Brooklyn based composer and pianist who is part of the composer collective Sleeping Giant. He has had commissions and performances from the New World Symphony, Albany Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. You can check out his blog and music at www.andres.comIn our conversation we talk about a composer having a sense of consistency, different ways style can evolve and change over time, and the DIY aspect of an artist’s own image.

Sarah is a Berlin based composer. She has worked with such groups as Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Ensemble Accroche Note, Trio Accanto, Ensemble Adapter, Nomos Quartet, and the International Ensemble Modern Academy. You can find out more about here at www.sarah-nemtsov.deIn our conversation we talk about creating associations in music without text, what happens if there is an aesthetic shift during a long-term project, and curators programming composers based on a theme.

Scott is a composer based in New York. He was the Artistic Director of Red Light New Music and is currently Associate Director of New Publications for Project Schott New York. You can listen to and look at his music at www.scottwollschleger.com. I also attached a score to this post.In our conversation we talk about his opinions and goals on music publishing and marketing in the U.S., his approach to creating his own scores, and how he wants his music to feel when being performed.

Evan is a composer from the U.S. who is currently based in Berlin. He has also spent an extended amount of time in Norway where he studied at the Norwegian State Academy of Music. His music has been played by such groups as, Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Jack Quartet, and the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. You can find more of his music at www.evangardner.com.In our conversation we talk about when a composer should or should not write safe music, the difference of expectations between European and American audiences, and risk assessment in both poker and composing.

Paul is a composer living in Berlin. He is part of the composer collective Klangnetz as well as a band member of the trio Brandt Brauer Frick, whose music is featured at the end of this interview. The piece is called Teufelsleiter.In our conversation we talk about his time living as a composer in Barcelona, his love for complexity in dance and club music, and adapting elements of electronic music into acoustic realities.

Robert is a composer and pianist living in Brooklyn, NY. He co-founded the Sleeping Giant composer collective and co-directs the Fast Forward Austin music festival. You can listen to more of his music at http://www.roberthonstein.com/In our conversation we talk about the importance of staying involved in a new music scene, the delicate balance of collaborations, and being stylistically flexible depending on the circumstances of a commission. The first piece played on this recording was part of a project done by Sleeping Giant and contains music from both Ted Hearne and Robert Honstein.

Heather is a composer of acoustic and electro-acoustic music, improviser and experimental flutist and works on sound installations. You can listen to more of her music at http://heatherfrasch.wordpress.com/In our conversation we talk about her time living and studying in France, when people need and don’t need a structured lifestyle, and different methods and reasons for notating music outside of convention. We talk about her piece “the silence that reigns…” as well as the program note she wrote for it, so I’ve attached the first 10 pages of the score to this post.Heather Frasch the silence that reigns

Oscar is an Italian-Swiss composer who has studied in Milan, Paris, and New York. He has been awarded numerous prizes, such as the Gaudeamus first Prize, the Dussurget Prize, the Asm-Stv Prize, the Aargauer Kuratorium fellowship and the Ictus fellowship. You can find more of his music at www.oscarbianchi.com/In our conversation we talk about being able to develop an overview between cultures, the contradiction between synthesizing new aesthetics and further refining craft, and his work with the Ictus Ensemble on his cantata Matra.

Missy is a composer based in New York as well as the keyboardist for Victoire, a band dedicated to playing her own compositions. In our conversation we talk about why certain genres are emphasized in academia, finding the joy in networking, and learning how to filter and react to criticism. You can find more of her music at www.missymazzoli.comSpecial thanks to Eight Blackbird and Cedille Records for their permission to use Still Life with Avalanche in this interview.

Mauricio is a Costa Rican composer and electric bass player based in the UK. He is co-director and founder of the Distractfold Ensemble and of the Altavoz Composers. He also performs with the Manchester-based trio, A Greater Horror. You can listen to his music at www.mauriciopauly.com/In our conversation we talk about the first half of a composition workshop we participated in with Ensemble Dal Niente, how composers gain experience and improve, and if artists need structure in their daily lives.

Jacob is a composer living and working in New York. He is a member of the composer collective Sleeping Giant, as well as having been a faculty member at Amherst College.In our conversation we talk about his opera Timberbrit, his approach to electronic music, and if staying too long in an academic institution can be counter productive. You can listen to more of his works at www.jacobcoopermusic.com/

Asmus is a composer who is currently working towards a Ph.d in philosophy at Humboldt University. He is also a member of Klangnetz, a collective of young composers living in Berlin, as well as co-founding the publishing house Lunardi Verlag.In our conversation we talk about the international culture in Berlin, what its like living in a city with no aesthetic consensus, balancing life as a composer and philosopher, and the effect higher learning institutions have on the artists associated with them.